Electric fluid heater



March 8, 1949.

e. M. CHAMBERS ELECTRIC FLUID HEATER Filed Feb. 7, 1946 INVENTOR ATTORNEY JMWXZ g Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC FLUID HEATER Gordon M. Chambers, Albany, N. Y. Application February 7, 1946, Serial No. 646,136

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to electric water heaters, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved water heater of general utility which will heat relatively large quantities of water in a short time and will operate more efiiciently than existing electric hot Water heaters.

The embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration in the drawing is particularly suited for house-heating purposes to replace conventional hot water furnaces. It is small and compact, occupying only a small portion of the area required for a hot water furnace, and may be used for supplying domestic hot water as well as for space heating.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an electric hot water heater having a relatively small water heating chamber, and which is arranged to highly heat the relatively small quantity of water in the water chamber in a remarkably short time, thus enabling the heater to deliver a steady stream of highly-heated fluid at a low cost of operation.

The superior results achieved by the electric hot water heater of the present invention are obtained by novel reflector means comprising corrugated plates positioned in spaced relation to the walls of the water chamber, the heating coils being located within the recesses afforded by such corrugated plates. The water chamber may take a variety of forms but is preferably of generally rectangular shape and provided with both inner and outer walls spaced apart only a few inches, the area between such spaced walls constituting the water chamber. The corrugated plates are preferably spaced inwardly from these inner walls, the heating coils being positioned in the recesses between such plates and the inner walls.

By so proportioning the parts as to have the heating coils positioned in closely spaced relation to the inner walls of the water chamber, the heat delivered to the water in the comparatively shallow water chamber, both by conduction and by radiation, is very intense and highly heats all the water in the chamber in a relatively small time.

If the furnace is used only for house-heating purposes, a closed circuit may be provided and circulation obtained by thermal-syphon action. The heat differential between Water in the furnace and the incoming water through the return pipe is sufficiently great that no circulating pump is necessary to maintain circulation in the system. In the event that domestic hot water is also to be drawn from the system, and this is preferable for home installation because of the economy and efficiency of the system, the cold water supply pipe from the main may be connected with the radiator return pipe and a suitable storage tank provided which may be connected with the hot water delivery pipe.

For house-heating installations, the apparatus of the present invention has many advantages over heating by oil, coal, or other fuels. Operation is much safer, no chimney is required to draw off the gases of combustion, and no dirt, soot or other accumulations occur. In operation the heater is noiseless, and there are no parts likely to get out of order.

The heater of the present invention will find its greatest usefulness in the heating of water, but other fluids may be heated with equal facility.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an electric hot Water heater embodying the present invention, the view showing the heater with the front cover removed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a broken front elevation of one of the corrugated heat-reflecting plates.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a broken perspective View of the insertable heating unit comprising the corrugated plates and the heating coils.

Fig. 6 is a broken section showing a modified arrangement embodying the present invention.

The heater of the present invention may be of any desired shape, although it is preferred to make it of generally rectangular shape. It may comprise a housing l0, providing outer walls I I of a Water chamber l2, inner walls l3 being mounted within the housing in spaced relation to such outer walls H. The distance between the inner and outer walls is a matter of choice, although for efficiency in operation the space between such walls is preferably of the order of a few inches. The front wall of the housing is provided with an opening I5, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, such opening being adapted to be closed by a suitable closure plate or door (not shown). Outer and inner walls I I and I3, respectively, are connected at their lower ends by means of bottom wall portions is and along their front edges by means of vertical Wall portions 20.

It will be clear from the foregoing that water chamber I2 is closed, and at its lower end may be supplied with water by means of inlet pipe 2| and heated water is delivered adjacent the upper end thereof through outlet pipe 22.

The heating unit 24 is insertable into and removable from the interior of the heater. It comprises corrugated plates 25 forming opposed side walls, a rear wall and an upper wall suitably joined together, as indicated in Fig. 5. At the front, the structure is open and there may extend across such opening a horizontal plate 26 which supports contact elements 2'8. Ihe size of the entire insertable unit 25 is such as to fit quite snugly within the opening formed by inner walls I3. This relationship is particularly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Heating coils 3E3 are suitably mounted within the recesses in the area between such plates 25 and inner walls it. These heating coils may be mounted in spaced relation to such corrugated plates 25 by means of suitable insulators 3|. No particular means for mounting the insulators 3i within the recesses is shown, for the reason that any conventional means to this end may be employed. The heating coils extend the full length of each recess and extend thence downwardly to the next adjoining recess.

In order to provide adequate clearance at the ends of the recesses, there are shown cut-out portions 32 as indicated particularly in Figs. 3 and 5. Any suitable wiring arrangement for the heater unit may be provided. For instance, each plate 25 may have one continuous heater coil Sail which is connected with the terminals 2i. By forming the heating unit 2 as a separate element, it may be readily withdrawn in the event that it becomes necessary to replace the heater coils.

The control element may be a more or less conventional room thermostat which closes a circuit and commences operation of the heater when the room calls for heat. It may also be desired to provide a rheostat in order that the heat output may be varied and thus have substantially continuous operation of the heater rather than the usual off-and-on operation in most conventional heating systems.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that substantially all the heat from the heater coils will be directed into the water chamber by radiation, although the corrugated plates 25 which may be in physical contact with the inner walls of the water chamber also transfer considerable heat by conduction. Inasmuch as the width of the column of fluid in chamber 52 is relatively small, substantially the entire body of fluid contained therein will be rather quickly heated to a high temperature.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated wherein the heating element is disposed on each side of the water chamber. In this case the chamber 36 is defined by walls 311 and the heating coils 38 are disposed within the recesses of the reflector elements 39. Insulation it may be positioned outside the reflector elements.

While two forms or embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction and arrangement incidental to two specific applications thereof have been disclosed and discussed in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangement of parts, nor to its specific embodiments shown herein, but that extensive deviations from the illustrated forms or embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

What I claim is:

1. An electric water heater comprising a water chamber formed with inner and outer walls, a metallic plate disposed along the inner wall and formed with alternate recesses and raised portions providing a plurality of channels between the inner wall and the plate, and electric heating coils mounted within such channels, the metal plate forming a plurality of reflectors for reflecting the heat to the water chamber.

2. An electric hot water heater comprising a water chamber formed with outer and inner walls,

the latter forming an internal chamber provided with means for closing the same, heat reflecting means comprising metallic plates formed with alternate recesses and raised portions mounted closely adjacent such inner walls and providing channels between such walls and the plates, and electric heating coils mounted within such channels.

3. An electric heater for fluids comprising a plurality of walls forming a chamber for the fluid to be heated, inlet and outlet means associated with said chamber, a metal heat reflecting plate mounted along one of said walls and provided with alternate rows of recesses and raised portions forming channels between the wall and the plate, and electric heating coils disposed within said channels.

GORDON M. CHAMBERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,617,889 Woodgate et a1 Feb. 15, 1927 1,762,201 Strong June 10, 1930 1,971,387 Scoville Aug. 28, 1934 2,226,526 Osterheld Dec. 24, 1940 

